114 THE STUDY OF ANIMAL LIFE 



soiled; whilst those of the Wild Duck, Teal, 

 Widgeon, Sheldrake, Pheasant, Partridge, Swan, 

 Nightingale, Goose, Shearwater, and several more, 

 are unmarked in any way; there are many kinds 

 either beautiful in ground colour or remarkable for 

 the rich markings that appear upon them. 



What more would one wish for than the delicious 

 shades of blue upon the eggs of the Hedge Sparrow, 

 Song Thrush, and Starling; the remarkable gloss 

 upon the porcelain-like shells of the Kingfisher 

 and Woodpecker; the handsome splashes of red 

 and brown upon the eggs of the Sparrow Hawk, 

 Kestrel, and Merlin; the extraordinary diversity 

 in the ground-colour and markings of the eggs of 

 the Guillemot and the Gulls; these, and many 

 others far too numerous to mention, are all in- 

 teresting when closely studied. 



The young zoologist has a wide field for research, 

 even among our own British birds, for from the 

 tiny pea-like egg of the Gold Crest to the large egg 

 of the Mute Swan, which, as has been previously 

 mentioned, may be likened to a small Rugby foot- 

 ball, there is wide scope for original observation, 

 such as might well engage, not only the study of 

 an hour, a day, a week, a month, or even a year, 

 but the devotion of a lifetime. 



